RLW v. CLW
Decision Date | 15 August 2003 |
Citation | 872 So.2d 876 |
Parties | R.L.W. v. C.L.W. |
Court | Alabama Court of Civil Appeals |
W. Gregory Hughes, Mobile, for appellant.
David P. Broome, Mobile, for appellee.
R.L.W. ("the husband") and C.L.W. ("the wife") were divorced in March 1992, after 28 years of marriage. Pursuant to the divorce judgment, the husband was required to pay the wife $6,500 in monthly periodic alimony. In September 2001, the wife filed a petition for a rule nisi, alleging that the husband was in arrears in paying periodic alimony. Specifically, the wife claimed that the husband had failed to pay the total monthly amount of periodic alimony since November 2000, and, as a result, the husband had accumulated an arrearage totaling $22,900. The husband cross-claimed, requesting that the trial court terminate his periodic-alimony obligation or grant him other, different, or further relief based on the changed circumstance that his annual salary had decreased by approximately $400,000 since the divorce. Following an ore tenus hearing in September 2002, the trial court reduced the husband's alimony obligation to $3,000 per month. The husband appeals, contending that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to terminate his alimony obligation.
A decision to modify an award of periodic alimony is within the sound discretion of the trial court. Bush v. Bush, 784 So.2d 299, 300 (Ala.Civ.App.2000). The trial court's judgment on this matter is presumed correct and will not be reversed unless it is unsupported by the evidence or is otherwise plainly and palpably wrong. Posey v. Posey, 634 So.2d 571, 572 (Ala.Civ.App.1994). A periodic-alimony obligation may be modified only upon a showing of a material change of circumstances that has occurred since the last award was made. Kiefer v. Kiefer, 671 So.2d 710, 711 (Ala.Civ.App.1995). In making this determination, "[t]he trial court may consider several factors, including the earning capacity of each spouse, the recipient's needs and the payor's ability to meet those needs, and the estate of each spouse." Id.
The record indicates that at the time of the divorce the husband was a neurosurgeon earning $597,743 per year. During the first five years of their marriage, the wife held a few jobs and was employed as the office manager in the husband's solo medical practice. The wife spent the remainder of their marriage at home with the parties' three children.1 She has not worked since the divorce.
The wife was 61 years old at the time of the hearing. During the modification hearing, the wife testified that her medical condition has prevented her from obtaining employment. The wife explained that she has cerebrovascular disease and coronary artery disease and that she underwent heart-bypass surgery in 1989. In addition, the wife suffers from arthritis in her neck, back, hands, and hip. Her cartilage has completely deteriorated from the third cervical vertebrae to the first thoracic vertebrae, and the first thoracic vertebrae has been fused. The wife further testified that at the time of the hearing she was under the care of a physician and that she took numerous prescription medications that cost $230 per month. After being removed from the husband's insurance coverage, the wife, as a result of her poor medical condition, was unable to obtain health insurance.2 By the time of the hearing, she had incurred $24,884.66 in medical expenses.
The wife testified that because she had been unable to work her only sources of income since the divorce have been alimony and interest income derived from accounts and investments established with the money she received through the divorce judgment.3 The wife testified that she has money-market accounts worth a total of $29,502, an individual-retirement account worth $20,000, and stocks worth approximately $12,000. The wife does not receive Social Security or Medicare benefits.
The record indicates that the wife's living expenses were $44,851 in 1999, 46,566.10 in 2000, and $66,587.77 in 2001. The husband argues that those expenses included expenses for the support and maintenance of the parties' adult daughter who lives with the wife. The wife testified that the daughter has had medical problems since she was a child. The daughter suffers from depression and has attempted suicide several times. The daughter also has developed an autoimmune disease. As a result of her medical condition, the daughter took a medical leave of absence from her job and has been unable to obtain employment since that time. The wife, however, calculated the daughter's expenses separately from her own expenses. The daughter's expenses totaled $3,107 in 2001.
At the time of the hearing, the husband was 67 years old. The husband testified that in September 2000 he had attempted suicide by taking an overdose of prescription medication. Following his suicide attempt, the State Medical Licensing Board prohibited the husband from performing operations, limited him to working 36 hours per week at the medical clinic, and prohibited him from taking night or weekend calls...
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